


Sunsets and ferns

by thatphannie_person233



Category: Dan Howell - Fandom, Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF), Phil Lester - Fandom, dan and phil
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 03:07:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26120077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatphannie_person233/pseuds/thatphannie_person233
Summary: Phil went back to work, but couldn’t really focus. Dan had been his only customer on that Sunday, that's why he was thinking about him, it definitely wasn’t his nice curls and pretty dimples. Definitely not.
Relationships: Dan Howell/Phil Lester
Comments: 5
Kudos: 31





	1. Chapter 1

Dan didn’t like moving. His family moved moved far too often when he was a child and he never had enough time to make any proper friends, not that he got along with anyone anyway. He didn’t like the experience of seeing his possessions being packed away into boxes and leaving as soon as he was just starting to feel at home.

For most people living in a big city like London would be their dream, but Dan had found that living alone while working a minimum wage job at a coffee shop wasn’t his dream and didn’t make him happy, just lonely.

So he decided to leave. To get out and move away, to somewhere where no one could judge or question him. Whether it was for a few weeks, a few months or forever, Dan needed the freedom. So he decided to move to the countryside.

-

As Dan was pacing his slowly emptying living room, ignoring the three or four workers who were putting the boxes he had packed into the van waiting outside for he him, he got lost in his thoughts. He let out a sigh and couldn’t pinpoint the emotions he was feeling. He didn’t know if he wanted to. 

On one hand this was Dan’s home, it was his apartment, and he knew every single crack and dent in the plaster, he knew every corner and every edge like it was an old friend, a friend he didn’t want to let go of. This was where he had his first boyfriend, his first proper job. On the other hand, every second he spent in it, the walls seemed to get smaller, and close in on him.

“Dan?” Called one of the workers from outside, snapping him out of his little world. “We’re done out here so if you want to come sign off we’ll be on our way!” 

“Sounds good!” Dan called back, before sighing again and flicking the light switch off on his way out, something he had done at least a hundred times before, but knew that this time would be the last. 

-

With the soft beige colour, and wooden frame, the house looked like it was out of a story book. The door was peach and the garden was a mess of weeds and mossy rocks, but Dan liked it that way. He had decided to just unpack the sofa, and leave all the other boxes around the house to deal with in the morning as the sun was going down and unlike other nights, he didn’t really want to stay up until three in the morning. 

He unlocked the door, pushed it open and smiled. The house was completely empty except for the boxes and small sofa, with two doors on the left wall, and a glass sliding door on the right, leading to another jungle of a garden. 

It was a clean slate. Something Dan could work with and make his own, somewhere he could just be him without the outside world crashing through and ruining it.

After closing the door and dropping his bags, he flopped down onto the sofa and drifted off into a world of U-Hauls and hazy dreams. 

The boxes around him faded away and so did the rest of the world, the silence of the small Manchester town settling in.


	2. Chapter 2

Dan woke up in a well rested, yet somehow still tired, mess. It took him a minute to take in his surroundings, looking around at the bright room with scrunched up eyes. “Shit… I need curtains…” he muttered checking his watch - 6:03 AM.

Reluctantly he got up and started to change into something which wasn’t his black sweatpants and hoodie he had decided to wear the previous day. Usually he dressed slightly more refined and less casual, but that was when he was still in London. Now he just grabbed a black t-shirt and washed out oversized black jeans and put those on. He had no one to impress anyway. 

The plan for the day was to go to some charity shops and try to find some little things to decorate the house with, as it was still looking pretty bland. Dan knew there was a flower shop and his plans was to go and pick some up and then head to get coffee. Quick and easy.

\- 

A bell jingled as he pushed the light blue door open and he stopped for a second to look around. The walls were a off white, painted over dark wood. Dan knew this because it was chipping slightly from old age. The floor was the same dark wood which had been worn down in a path from the door to the counter.

At the counter stood a tall man in chunky glasses with a wide smile on his face. His eyes were the same colour as the outside of the shop, and he was wearing a pink top with green overalls. Dan thought he was perfect. 

Trying to avoid eye contact he turned around and looked at some peonies on display, still ignoring the man at the counter. “Can I help you?” The cashier asked, with a strong Manchester accent, nearly making Dan jump out of his skin.

“Are you new here? I haven’t seen you around. I’m Phil and this is my flower shop!” Phil said this all very fast and it made Dans head spin a bit.

“Um. Yeah I am. New here I mean. I’m Dan.” Dan said running a hand through his hair, trying to figure out why Phil was talking to him. Oh yeah, flowers. “I’m just here to pick up some flowers for my house?”

Phil clapped his hands together and said, “Great! What aesthetic are you going for Dan?”

Shit. Well he had mostly just brought colourful stuff, and anime movies, so what really was his aesthetic?

“Do you have anything… colourful?”

Phil laughed and nodded, “I think most of these flowers are colourful, but I’ll se what I can do.”  
He walked back over to the counter and picked out some tulips which were a soft pink. The same colour as his shirt. 

“How about these?” He said, handing them to Dan.

“Perfect! They match your shirt!” Dan said with a smile. “So these are £10,” he fumbled with his wallet for a second and said, “Well I should probably get going I still have some things to get done, but thanks for the help!” 

If he was looking closely Dan could almost swear Phil’s smile flickered for a second, but he wasn’t and it passed unnoticed. 

“Yeah! I guess I’ll be seeing you then.” Phil replied taking the note from Dan.

The bell jingled on his way out, and Dan slipped the flowers carefully into his backpack, the guy with the cute smile and nice hair still in his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i basically added the second chapter from now because I'm impatient and I already finished it


	3. Chapter 3

Phil went back to work, but couldn’t really focus. Dan had been his only customer on that Sunday, thats why he was thinking about him, it definitely wasn’t his nice curls and pretty dimples. Definitely not.

It was his shop, so he decided to go home early, back to his house to make dinner and watch some TV show or another. It was lonely but it was normal at this point and Phil couldn’t complain. He lit the scented candle on the counter in his kitchen, and put the noodles in the microwave. Alone, but content. And the noodles were good too. 

-

The library was just down the road from Phil’s house and he needed something to read when business was slow, so he decided to head over and get a book that would actually pass the time instead of just colour coding the flowers for the third time in one day.

The library was one of the oldest (and dullest) buildings in the town and it was mostly bored old ladies knitting or reading the cookbooks, so when Phil saw a mop of curly brown hair and an a real genuine smile it took him aback. 

“Phil!” Dan said, probably louder than he should’ve.

“Dan! Hi! What are you doing here? Don’t you have work?” 

“This is my work, my grandad used to own this place and he left it to me,”

“Wait, you’re a Howell? Dan Howell.”

“That I am Phil-? “ 

“Lester,” Phil said, reaching his hand out for Dan to shake. 

“Nice,” Dan replied shaking it. “Well now that we’re properly introduced, did you come here to talk to me or get a book?”

Phil laughed and said, “I’m here for a book, don’t get your hopes up.” 

Dan did a mock pouty face but then nodded and jokily waved Phil away.

The library wasn’t too big or nice, but it was the sort of building you could tell was elegant when it was first made. Now the rich blue carpet was fading, and the bookshelves were slowly collecting more dust than actual books.

The last time Phil was in here was when he was studying for college, and he tried not to remember those days most of the time. He traced his fingers over the books looking for a cheesy romance novel to try to distract himself from his love life. Or lack of one.

He looked back over his shoulder and caught Dan looking away quickly. Phil chuckled quietly and carried on searching, a pink blush creeping across his face. 

Eventually he found the cheesy romance book he was looking for and dropped it down on the table in front of Dan.

“Hm.”

“What?” Phil asked slightly concerned.

“No, no, nothing I just wouldn’t think of you as a romance kind of guy,”

“Oh? Well I like a happy ending. Even if I know I’m not gonna get the same kind, its still kinda sweet.” He said with a soft smile, looking only slightly sad.

“What do you mean you won’t get the same kind? I bet theres a pretty girl just waiting for you somewhere,” Dan replied, trying to look encouraging but giving off the same sort of soft sadness as Phil. 

Phil just laughed and after lowering his voice considerably and looking around, said, “I’m gay Dan.”

Dan’s face immediately lit up, “Really?” Phil nodded. Dan snapped out of it for a second and managed to get out, “Same! I mean- yeah. Me too.” 

“Oh! Oh cool!” Phil replied with a relieved grin, “So this one then please!”

“Yes Mr. Lester”

Phil gave him a look and they both laughed, which earned them a bitter ‘shh!’ From one of the grandmas, which Dan replied to with a glare and muttering, “I work here Hattie…” Which made Phil laugh again. Dan scribbled a receipt for Phil and slipped it inside the book before handing it to him and smiling.

“See you later Dan!” 

“Bye Phil!” Called Dan out the door before turning back to his desk with a dumb smirk plastered on his face. He ran his hand through his hair before getting back to work reshelving old books.

-

Back at Phil’s house Phil opened up the book, forgetting the slip off paper that fell out and onto the floor. He reached down and picked it up, unfolding it carefully. It was a phone number and a smiley face. Dans phone number. “Sly dog.” He said.

Phil had a mental struggle of ‘should I text him? Then I’d seem clingy’ and ‘but he did give me his number so?’ Which ended in him sending 

8:57pm PL:   
Hi

8:59pm DH:  
oh hi  
i see you can read numbers :)

9:00pm PL:  
I was reading the book I got

9:01 DH:  
i mean thats fun  
so i was wondering if you wanted to grab a coffee

9:04 PL:  
Yeah sure!! I could close early tomorrow?

9:05 DH:  
i feel honoured that youd skip work for me  
but yeah that sounds good

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry im like this im just very bored so enjoy the third update again this day


	4. Chapter 4

Phil sat in the coffee shop waiting for Dan. He was early and slightly nervous, but it wasn’t a date, he knew it wasn’t. He wasn’t scared exactly, he was just… Phil. Namely, anxious about nothing and everything all at once. Eager for experiences that he was terrified to actually take partake in.

But he was at the coffee shop to just have a good time and make a friend. Not because anyone else told him to, but because he wanted to. It was a good feeling. The cafe wasn’t full, but it wasn’t empty either, so it wouldn’t be too awkward. 

Phil liked to go there when he wanted to get out of the house, but not out in the fields. The walls and floors were a dark panelled wood, there were a lot of plants and fairy lights were strung around the room and from the ceiling. The floor to ceiling windows on the left side of the room looked out over the countryside and a bit of the town. It was perfect.

“Phil!” A familiar voice said. Phil looked up at Dan looking somehow so casual yet so styled in a black blazer, over a grey t-shirt and black trousers. Phil felt underdressed in his denim jacket and striped tee, but he brushed it off.

“Hi! I love your jacket!” 

“Thanks I got it from a TopShop,” Dan said sitting down at the scrubbed wood table.

A waitress came over and took their orders (Phil got a plain black coffee and Dan got a hot chocolate). They sat in a comfortable silence just sipping their drinks and catching glances of each other out of the corners of their eyes until Phil broke the silence.

“This isn’t a date right?” Dan looked up with a very specific look in his eyes that Phil couldn’t fully understand. There was a heavy pause and Dan said, “Well. Only if you want it to be.”

Phil stopped to think, and said, “I do.”

“Well thats good because I do too. Hows your coffee?” 

“Its good. A little bitter but yeah.”

Dan opened his mouth to say something then closed it again. Then he opened it again and said, “Not to be impersonal, but when did you realise?”

Phil understood and paused before saying, “Well I guess I just never really like girls. I thought that all boys liked other boys but I guess I was wrong.” He let out a short harsh laugh. “You?”

“My first boyfriend. I was still figuring things out, but he came along and swept me off my feet. I thought he was the one but I guess I was wrong too.” Dan turned his head to look at the big windows at the cloudy grey sky. 

It was a nice sort of cloudy, not the ugly kind, but the kind where they clouds are fluffy but dark, and the green of the trees looks pretty clashing ever so slightly with the sky. A light drizzle started and Phil near whispered, “Wanna get out of here?” 

Dan grinned and nodded, brushing his fingers over Phil’s as he got up and put his coffee cup in the bin. As Phil was leaving he took Dan’s hand and ran through the rain, not really caring if his quiff got flattened by the rain, and his glasses spotty. “Hey I don’t do running!” Shouted Dan.

“Too bad, lets go!”

They ran to Phil’s flower shop where they sat soaking and laughing on the chairs in the back.

“Well, thats my monthly exercise done.” Dan wheezed, still out of breath from running three blocks.

“I relate. I used to bike but then more cars came to the town and I just stopped.” Phil looked around the room, looking for something. Eventually he got up and walked over to the front corner of the shop.

“Hey Sherlock, what’re you looking for?” Dan said, getting up and walking across the small shop.

“These,” said Phil with a grin, holding up a little bunch of daisies.

“Oh no no no, I don’t think so,” Dan said with a laugh. Phil laughed too and sat down at the cash register, weaving the little flowers together, sticking his tongue out in a focused concentration. He started humming a tune which Dan picked up on immediately, his eyes flicking upwards.

“I didn’t think of you as an anime guy either. Yuri On Ice?” 

“Yeah!!! I love anime but I’ve mostly been rewatching Buffy lately.” 

Dan gave him a look and laughed a bit, “Of course you watch Buffy. I never really got into it…” 

“You’ll have to come over to mine! I have the proper Blu-Ray DVD’s and everything. And popcorn?”

“Really?” Dan asked, and when he got a not back from Phil said, “Popcorn sounds good.”

-

They walked to Phil’s house side by side, the rain had stopped now, and had left the streets empty of people, and slightly misty. The sun was going down slowly, making all the houses glow a soft pinkish peach.

“I like it here,” Dan muttered, threading his fingers through Phil’s, trying not to overthink and wonder if he was being to forward, it was a date after all. 

“Im glad,’ replied Phil squeezing Dans hand gently.

“Hey my house is just around here, maybe I can stop by and get some snacks too?”

“Okay!” 

Dan led Phil down the cobbled street to where his little house was. He still hadn’t cleaned up the garden properly, so it was a small jungle of ferns and weeds, but he liked it. The house was facing the sunset and the house looked orange from it.

“Or we could just stay here?” Phil asked, already in love with the aesthetic of Dan’s pretty much unfurnished house. 

“If you’re okay sitting on a cramped sofa with no television yet?” Dan said with a smirk.

Phil said nothing, instead he took Dan’s hand and sat down in the grass, pulling Dan down with him. They sat like that, with Phil leaning on Dan’s shoulder in an understanding silence, Dan playing with Phil’s hair and looking at the sunset. 

Phil sat up when it started to get a bit colder. He looked at Dan and smiled. Their faces were inches away and Dan smiled a small smile.

He didn’t want to ruin the mood, but Dans lips were right there, and they looked as pink as the tulips on his table inside. He didn’t want to ruin the mood, but he knew he should ask. 

“Can I kiss you?” 

Dan didn’t reply, but nodded, leaning forwards to meet Phil in the middle. It was soft, and everything a kiss should be.

The sun was going down, and there they sat in the ferns, close together and happy.

Maybe Dan did like moving after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading this short fic! i hope you enjoyed it and who knows, maybe I'll write another some time


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just found the lost start of this fic so I'm adding it to see the original edit

Dan didn’t like moving. His family moved around so often when he was a child he never really stayed anywhere long enough for him to make proper friends, not that he ever got along with anyone anyway. He didn’t like the experience of seeing all his possessions be packed up and put away for the last time, but London was just getting too much for him and he needed time away. Whether that was a week, a month or for an indefinite amount of time, he knew he needed to leave.

He was mostly just lonely. Living in a big city was a lot of people’s dreams, but Dan found that living there alone working a minimum wage job at a coffee shop wasn’t ideal, or his dream at all so he decided to pack up and move out to the country side, where maybe he could do something to make him happy. Or at least, happier than he already was.

-

As he was pacing the living room, watching the men from the moving company take his boxes of clothes and old dvd’s to the truck waiting for him outside. He looked around his apartment for what would be the last time and let out a sigh, not really able to pinpoint the emotions he was feeling. On one hand, he wanted out, and every second he spent in that flat made the walls seem like they were closing in on him. On the other hand, he would miss it. He knew every crack and dent in the walls, he knew every corner and edge like an old friend, and he didn’t want to leave that behind.

“Dan?” Called one of the workers, snapping him out of his little world. “We’re done here, so if you can come sign off we’ll be on our way!”

“Sounds good!” Dan said before sighing again and walking through the front door, flicking the light switch off in a way he had done a hundred times before, now knowing it would be the last. 

-

The house was small. It looked like it was from a story book from the outside, a soft beige with a wood frame on the outside. The door was a light peach colour and the garden was a mess of weeds and long grass. Dan had decided to just go inside and leave the boxes all over the place until the morning as the sun was already going down, and for once he didn’t want to be up until three in the morning. 

He unlocked the door, pushed it open and smiled. The house was completely empty except for the boxes and a small sofa in the middle of the room. There were two doors on the left side of the living room, and a glass sliding door on the right, leading out into a back garden which was just as unkempt as the front one. 

It was a clean slate. A fresh start for Dan and his life, and he loved it. Flopping down on the sofa - the only piece of furniture in the room - he fell asleep leaving all his worries behind, to escape to a world of moving vans and hazy dreams.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!! this is one of my first fics in a while! i hope you enjoy :) I'll try to update every Wednesday but I might a bit earlier if I'm happy with it. my blog is @thatphannieperson so yeah come say hi if you want


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